


Survivors

by sillypigeon



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Rape, Prisoner of war camp, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-19 05:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3598584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sillypigeon/pseuds/sillypigeon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somewhere in the future, Levi tries to save Erwin from a prisoner of war camp. Sometimes your best isn't good enough</p>
            </blockquote>





	Survivors

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this fanart:
> 
> http://brilcrist.tumblr.com/post/84794765844/well-uve-actually-got-a-full-view-artwork-from

“You’ve been eating too much,” Levi said with a laugh. He adjusted his arm around Erwin’s waist and staggered forward a step.

“Fuck you, Levi,” Erwin responded. He tried to laugh, and the wet cough that came out made Levi shudder.

Levi quickly discovered that helping a dying comrade walk was harder when there was a foot of height between them. Especially when that particular comrade had cuts covering his arms from their escape attempt.

They’d been walking for almost an hour and Erwin was sure the iron grip Levi had on his wrist was going to leave a bruise. “That’s if I last that long,” Erwin said without expression.

“What?” Levi grunted, Erwin putting more of his weight on his shorter friend.

“Nothing,” Erwin murmured. He moaned when he put weight on his leg. “ Stop, Levi. I need a break.”

Levi looked around. There wasn’t anywhere for them to stop, really. The snowy woodland seemed to stretch on for miles and Levi had no idea if they were being followed.

Levi’s deliberation was too much for Erwin and his legs buckled. Levi grabbed at Erwin to stop him from falling but it was fruitless.

“Oh God, Erwin, are you okay?” Levi knelt down beside Erwin, grey eyes wide.

“C’mon, Levi, I’ve got a hole in my stomach and leg.” Erwin grinned up at Levi. “I’m just peachy!”

“Shut up, you dick,” Levi murmured as he helped Erwin sit up against the base of a tree.

After a moment of silence between them (Levi pretended to ignore how the snow around Erwin was turning red), Erwin spoke up. “Petra’s dead, isn’t she?”

Levi raked his hand through his dark hair. “Yeah.”

Erwin sighed, wincing at the pain in his torso. “What’re you going to do?”

“ _We_ are going to wait here until you get more strength. But not for too long. I don’t want you to freeze. Then we’re going to find Sina and get a doctor to fix you.”

Erwin rolled his eyes. Sina was a town they had heard the guards whispering about at the compound. To Erwin it was a hopeless dream. But that dream is what led them to escaping the compound. Sina was all Levi had.

They didn’t know if the town was part of the terrorist occupation, or if it even existed. It was all they had to cling to, all Levi had to think about while they tortured Erwin. If Levi had to listen to Erwin be tortured again, he was going to kill someone.

“Remember when we first met?” Erwin said to change the subject.

Levi scoffed. “Course I do. Why?”

“You called me a ‘coconut’.”

Levi barked out a laugh. “You have to admit, your head does kind of look like a coconut. An _Aryan_ coconut.”

Erwin smiled, staring up at the night sky barely visible past the foliage. The stars weren’t out yet, and Erwin longed to see them. “Do you wish we could go back?”

Levi gave Erwin a sharp look. “Back where? The compound?”

“Yeah. When we were all alive.” Erwin was still staring up at the sky with a little smile that put Levi on edge.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Levi got to his feet. “We _are_ alive. Let’s get moving.”

Standing up was the second most painful thing Erwin had ever experienced. He hooked one of his arms around Levi’s neck and Levi grabbed his wrist. Levi barely made it up to Erwin’s shoulder but he’d be damned if he wasn’t a good crutch.

They started off again, slower this time. Neither of them said anything. The snow crunched under their footsteps and Levi strained his ears for the sound of something dangerous.

“I wonder what Armin’s doing?” Erwin murmured.

“God, Erwin, why do you keep bring this stuff up?” Levi growled.

“I miss them,” Erwin said, voice thick with tears.

“Erwin, please, don’t,” Levi said, his voice dead.

“It’s my fault. If I had been there when I should’ve been, then–”

Erwin’s legs gave out and he collapsed face down in the snow. With shaking hands, Levi rolled him over and looked into his friend’s face. Erwin’s eyes were closed and Levi was glad he was finally resting.

 

_“You’re here because you’re scum, got it?”_

_“Actually, I’m here because I’m serving my country and –”_

_A fist being pummelled into Erwin’s face was enough to shut him up. The bearded man kept punching and punching until something white fell from Erwin’s mouth. Erwin’s head lolled back and the man grabbed his hair roughly._

_“YOU DO_ NOT _DESERVE TO LIVE! THE_ ONLY _REASON YOU ARE HERE IS TO BRING DEATH TO_ YOUR _PEOPLE!” the man screamed in Erwin’s face, spittle flying._

_Erwin said nothing. He was still blinking away black spots and fighting the bile rising in his throat. When he could see the sweaty face of the man in front of him, he grinned lazily, revealing the bloody gap in his teeth._

_“Whatever you say, cap.”_

 

Night fell and Erwin resurfaced. He was feeling cold even though the tears in his body were hot. He noticed the ground he was lying on had the snow cleared away, the excess compacted near his feet. He was still cold, though.

“You up?”

Erwin looked around for Levi. He was sitting off a little way, packing snow into a small metal canteen.

“How long was I out?” Erwin wanted to sit himself up to see Levi better, but the wound in his stomach ached just thinking about it.

“About an hour.”

Erwin sighed. The stars shone brightly down on the pair and Erwin realised this was the first time he had seen them in months. He wondered if Armin was looking up at the same ones, wherever he was.

Levi walked over to him, kicking a little bit of snow away from Erwin’s thigh. “Are you warm enough?”

“Yes,” Erwin lied. He turned his face away from the sky to look at Levi’s face. It was cloaked with a shadow, but Erwin could just imagine the worry lines etched there.

After a moment, Levi sat down. “I don’t know what to do.”

“That’s a first.” Erwin closed his eyes for a moment, allowing a feeling of weightlessness pass.

“Erwin,” Levi muttered. After a moment, he spoke again. “Sina is too far away.”

Erwin opened his eyes slowly. “How do you know?”

“When you were unconscious I walked to higher ground. I could see it. But it’s probably a two day trek at our pace.”

Erwin said nothing. He glanced back at the sky, waiting for Levi to offer any more information. Levi seemed to be floundering for words. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t fucking know,” Levi said sharply, and Erwin was glad to see the spark come back.

“I think you should leave me and go.”

Levi scowled, staring at the ground in front of him. “No way.”

“Levi, we both know I’m not going to make it. We both know I’m slowing you down.”

“I’m not leaving you!” Levi’s voice rose and echoed off the trees. “Not after… No. No way.”

“Not after you left Armin?” Erwin’s voice could cut stone.

Levi froze. He took a couple of shaky breaths. “He ran off. I don’t know where he went. He could be dead for all we know.”

“I’m dying.”

“I’m going to fix you,” Levi retorted.

“I’m bleeding out.”

“They’ll give you a transfusion.” Levi was shaking and breathing heavily, clenching his hands tightly.

“Levi. I. Am. Going. To. _Die_.” Erwin felt tears try to squeeze themselves out of his eyes but he forced them back.

“No! No, you’re not!” Levi yelled and everything became so quiet they could almost hear the snow melting around Erwin.  

Erwin closed his eyes for a moment, grimacing slightly. “Levi, I can’t feel my legs.”

Silence.

“When?”

“Just now. I was going to get up and punch some sense into you and I realised I can’t move them.”

Levi pressed his hands to his face. His shoulders shook and a slow whine filled the air around them.

“You have to go,” Erwin said softly.

“I don’t want to,” Levi whimpered.

Erwin raised a hand to touch Levi’s knee. Before he could say anything, a wave of coughing forced itself out of Erwin’s mouth. He coughed and coughed until he lost consciousness.

 

_“Who’s that coconut?” Levi asked Petra._

_A tall man was sitting hunched over in the corner. He was holding his hands out in front of him and his face was bruised and bloody._

_“Fresh meat,” she commented. “Got here yesterday. I could hear his screams from my bed.”_

_“That makes, what? Seven people in the last month? Why don’t the armies withdraw?”_

_“I’ve been here longer than you. Don’t be asking me questions like that.” Petra glanced down at the table as a guard passed._

_Ever since she was raped by one three weeks ago, she couldn’t look any guard in the eye. And rightly so, Levi reasoned. He was never away from her side, and as long as he was near her, she would never suffer like that again._

_Petra appreciated the sentiment, but she didn’t know what a scrawny guy like Levi was going to do against the burly guards. But, she supposed, he must be pretty good if he was in the Elite Forces. Then again, he had been caught and taken into a prisoner of war camp._

_“I’m going to talk to him,” Levi said, standing up. He glanced down at Petra._

_“I’ll be within arm’s reach. I’ll be fine.”_

_Levi’s eyes softened a little before he made his way over to the shell of a man in the corner._

_“Your head looks like a coconut.”_

_The man blinked and stared up at him. “I… what?”_

_Levi sat down in front of him. He glanced back to check on Petra before speaking again. “Where are you from?”_

_The man blinked down at the bloody holes in his palms. levi winced as he remembered how that felt. He held his hands out to show the man his own scars. “We’re both Jesus.”_

_The man smiled a little. “It was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced.”_

_“Who knew a nail could be used in such a way,” Levi said and the man paled considerably. “Where are you from? Do you… Do you remember?”_

_There were some cases here where people couldn’t remember where they were from. For some, the first day in the room with Shouty Man (an affectionate nickname coined by Petra) was enough to break even the strongest of soldiers._

_“Yeah. I’m from America.” The man blinked a couple of times and then looked at Levi like he could come up with the answer to life._

_“Thought so. Do you have a name?” Levi watched as the man’s large blue eyes flitted around the room. With a face like that, even beaten and swollen, Erwin could fall prey to the disgusting minds in this place._

_“I’m Erwin.” Erwin went to shake Levi's hand but stopped when he remembered his wounds._

_“Nice to meet you, Erwin. I’m Levi.” Feeling a magnetic pull to go back to Petra’s side, Levi stood up. “Want to join us?”_

_Erwin nodded and stood. “How long have you been here, Levi?”_

_Levi glanced up at Erwin. “Eighteen months.”_

“Am I dead yet?” Erwin whispered softly to the darkness after he opened his eyes.

“No,” it responded and someone put their hands on Erwin’s shoulder.

Erwin didn’t feel cold anymore. Granted, he couldn’t feel anything anymore, but at least it wasn’t cold. He was definitely dying, but at least he didn’t _feel_ like he was dying. “Where are we?”

There were sounds of shifting beside him and Levi sighed. “I found a cave. You were out for a long time, Erwin. I thought you might not come back.”

Erwin laughed and coughed again. Levi flinched like each cough was a little piece of his sanity being chipped off. “Nah, I have to pester you, still,” Erwin whispered once he got his breath back. “Did they find us?” He suddenly regretted how they had raised their voices before.

“Yeah,” Levi said softly. “They’re noisy bastards. I’m surprised they didn’t wake you up.”

Erwin smiled slightly. “How far did you take me?”

“Maybe two hundred metres. Dragging you through the snow was no easy thing.” Levi’s voice had an edgy tone to it.

The very people they had been escaping from were somewhere nearby in this forest, and even after Levi had gone back to cover up the blood trail, it wasn’t a good situation to be in. There was nothing they could do about it. All they could do was lie in wait and hope their pursuers gave up.

Neither of them said anything for a long time, and Levi started dozing off. He hadn’t slept in twenty four hours. He was bone tired. So tired, in fact, that he almost missed the sound of yelling outside the cave.

“Oh no,” Erwin whispered. His consciousness was dragging, but he wanted to stay awake. He was scared that if he closed his eyes he would never open them again.

“Did you hear that?” Levi asked, hoping that his mind was playing tricks on him.

“Yes,” Erwin whispered again. “But don’t go. Stay here.”

“What if it’s Armin?”

Erwin’s eyes widened. “No, Levi. No. It could be _Them_!”

“But what if it’s him!” Levi shifted and started exiting the cave. He was not going to let them have Erwin.

“Shit! No Levi! Don’t go!”

Levi knew he wasn’t thinking straight. He needed sleep. He needed his friend to survive. He needed to be anywhere but here in this winter hell. He heard Erwin yelling behind him but he kept walking towards the sounds of people.

Back in the cave, Erwin’s eyes were rolling back in his head as he fought hard against unconsciousness. He strained his ears and listened to Levi’s footsteps as he walked away.

_“Shitty terrorists, right?” Levi said, leaning his cheek on his palm._

_Erwin nudged him with his elbow. “They might hear you.”_

_Levi gestured at Petra. “They haven’t segregated the sexes. They haven’t made us do a video to scare our countries. All they’ve done is threaten us with violence.” Levi shrugged. “I’ve been here almost two years and I’m still alive. Question is, what are they trying to achieve? What’s the point?”_

_“Fresh meat,” Petra interrupted, tapping Erwin and Levi on their shoulders._

_Erwin looked over at the small figure in the corner. “What? He looks twelve!”_

_Levi stood up. “All the more reason we need to make sure he’s okay.”_

_Petra and Erwin watched as Levi walked over to the small figure. After a couple of quiet sentences, Levi brought the kid over. He stood there, sniffling and wiping his cheeks on a filthy sleeve._

_“I’m Armin,” the kid said softly, and Erwin smiled at him._

_Erwin opened his mouth to introduce himself when a guard rushed over and hauled him out of his seat. “What the –”_

_“You will come with me!” the guard said in thickly accented English._

_Levi took a step towards Erwin but Petra stopped him. Erwin threw terrified glances at Levi and Petra as he was wrenched away. A door closed and he was gone._

_“Why is it always him?” Petra whispered, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose._

_Levi slowly sat down. Armin was staring at the space where Erwin was, tears welling up in his large blue eyes._

_“Why did they take him this time?” Levi growled, staring with burning eyes at the rickety table in front of him._

_“Why do they_ ever _take him,” Petra said, her voice hitching towards a whine._

_“Why did they take him?” Armin asked._

_Levi glared at the table. “We don’t –”_

_Erwin’s scream made everyone freeze. Armin paled and pressed a hand up to his mouth. No one moved as Erwin started sobbing and begging, voice breaking before he shrieked again, his voice travelling easily through thin walls._

_Levi was trembling. His hair was shaking with the movement of his body and he dug his nails into his leg. It was almost like he was feeling the pain with Erwin. Petra blocked her ears and Armin shook his head in horror._

_After fifteen minutes Erwin stopped screaming. In place of his cries came the vicious sounds of flesh being beaten. Levi hardly blinked during that time._

_Petra turned to Levi. “It’s going to be okay.”_

_“How can you say that when our friend is being tortured less than fifteen metres away from us?” Levi stood up, hands clenched into balls. “How can you sit here and console_ me _when Erwin is suffering –”_

_The guards burst from the door, carrying Erwin’s limp figure. Levi rushed forward, dodged the looks and arms of the guards. They let Erwin fall heavily to the ground._

_Blood was coming from a wound in his arm, and Levi could see the beginnings of bruises on of Erwin’s skin. Erwin was unconscious, thankfully, and Levi hung his head and repressed sobs._

_Ever since Erwin showed up, Levi had become dependent on him. This was not made any easier when their captors decided Erwin would make a good test subject – in one month, Erwin had been taken twelve times and tortured. It became painfully obvious that it had something to do with Erwin’s side of the war._

_“We have to get out of here,” Levi seethed, eyes furiously staring at one of the guards. “We need to save him from these people. Let’s go to Sina.”_

 

Erwin was surprised he opened his eyes again. He should be dead by now. It was a miracle, really. He hadn’t been in good health when they planned the escape, a cup of rice a day being the only thing he’d eaten for months.

The cave was grey instead of black, and the only thing he could do was blink and breathe. He heard scrambling near the mouth of the cave and he held his breath.

“Erwin,” Levi whispered.

Erwin didn’t have the strength to reply. Levi’s face appeared in Erwin’s field of vision and smiled a little. Levi’s face was paler than usual.

“It wasn’t Armin.”

Erwin said nothing.

 

_‘MOVE!” Levi shouted at Petra._

_She stood like a deer in headlights. Well, like a traumatised human in the bright lights of a guard tower. Levi grabbed her arm and ran. The jolt of movement snapped her back into reality and she started moving._

_Nothing had gone according to plan – yet they still had their chance. Out of twenty captured people, only Petra, Levi, Armin, and Erwin managed to get away._

_Erwin was supposed to give them all a leg up over the fence because he was the tallest, but Levi and Petra hadn’t seen him for almost an hour and they were beginning to give up hope. Levi began to realise their captors must have taken Erwin again._

_Petra was supposed to run as fast as she could to the fence so they wouldn’t get caught by bullets. Armin was already at the fence, pressing himself into the wire like a trapped rabbit trying to disappear._

_Levi’s stride was longer than Petra’s and their hands lost each other. The guards saw Petra running across the field and they fired at her. She fell in a bloody mess on the grass and Levi turned back to get her. Then Erwin appeared, grabbing Levi by the shoulders and forcing him forward._

_“Petra!” Levi screamed over his shoulder as two bullets whizzed past him and embedded themselves in Erwin._

_Erwin cried out in pain but adrenalin kept him moving. He pretty much threw Levi and Armin over the fence and crawled like a spider up the wire. He lacerated his arms on the barbed wire at the top but he managed to get free, landing heavily on the other side. Levi had cut his legs on the wire but Erwin made him get moving into the relative safety of the snowy forest._

_Armin sprinted ahead of them. The other two men couldn’t catch up and they didn’t call out. Levi hoped he would get somewhere safe, even if it was without them._

_They ran for what seemed like hours. Eventually they had to stop because Levi couldn’t support Erwin who was about to pass out. They collapsed in the snow and just breathed. In. Out. In. Out._

_Survivors._

 

“It was _Them_.” Levi pressed a hand to the top of his head like he was searching for a hat.

“What did they do?” Erwin slurred.

“It doesn’t matter. They’re not going to hurt you anymore. I made sure of that.”

Levi collapsed next to Erwin and didn’t move. Slowly, Erwin twisted his head to the side to see his friend. Levi was looking at Erwin calmly. Lying shoulder to shoulder, both men found a strange sense of equality.

“Now we wait,” Erwin murmured.

Levi cringed a little at that. Truth was he was injured by the people following them. His leg was bleeding, heavily. One part of him believed he would be okay, the other part would be glad he could die with Erwin. Levi's head was spinning and he was shivering with cold. If he had known before the escape attempt that he was going to die beside his best friend, he wouldn’t have changed anything. He’d succeeded in freeing Erwin from the torture, but he’d also succeeded in killing them both.

Levi’s blood loss made him feel like he’d been drugged, and Erwin’s mind was shot after hours of teetering on the edge of death. Neither of them were functioning smoothly.

“C’mon, Whit, let’s fly this chicken coup,” Erwin whispered dreamily.

“Is it better to die in freedom or live in captivity?” Levi wondered out loud.

Erwin’s eyes rolled back in his head and he started twitching. Levi thumped him with his arm and Erwin came back to himself with a gasp, eyes open and unfocused. Levi felt a lump rise in his throat.

“I think I’m going now,” Erwin slurred, meeting Levi’s eyes for the last time. “I’m scared, Levi.”

Levi felt his stomach bottom out. “Erwin, I’ll search for you wherever we end up after this and I’ll find you. You won’t have to be afraid anymore.” Levi could see Erwin’s eyes closing. “This is just a bli –”

Levi stopped when he heard the breath leave Erwin’s body. He knew he was gone and Levi waited for his own death to come.


End file.
